FAQ FOR MTS

Movement Therapy for Sports (MTS™) is a training method that uses movement to tap into the psyche, empowering individual athletes as well as sports teams to find inner peace, release stress, gain energy and create new internal pathways to achieve mind-body synchrony. It enhances the mental, physical, emotional, social and cognitive well-being of the player. In a nutshell, it enhances quality of performance in sports, using a scientific approach to enable an athlete to fully maximize his or her potential.

In a broader scope, MTS™ results in crystallized body awareness which, as a consequence, improves non-verbal communication and psychological strategy. It helps participants think and function as strong individuals, as well as a cohesive unit, and also differentiate between general and personal space.

An athlete’s ability to perform is affected by mental make-up, emotional stability as well as skill. MTS™ works on every aspect of mind-body connectedness of the player as well as the team as a whole.

2. Why is MTS™ important for sport?

MTS™ adds a whole new dimension to players’ existing training methods. It supports the work of the coaches, physiotherapists, sports psychologists and all other coaching staff.

Movement Therapists do not focus on training players in a particular skill, instead they fine tune movements and hone the existing skill set. In team sports like cricket, the athlete has to primarily have clear self-concept and crystallized awareness in relationship to self, followed by clarity of his relationship with team mates.

Movement is a statement of one’s feelings and energy and desire to externalize internal expression. However, external situations are constantly changing.

MTs help clients to adapt their inner emotions in relationship to external stressors. Movement Therapy attends to the body and posture and how it influences perception / tensions held within the body that might inhibit action or feeling. MTs help people empower their internal emotional space by navigating their body through movement. MTs analyze these movement patterns to bring about desirable change that impact the player both physically and mentally.

3. Is MTS™ just for professionals, if not, how can young players and coaches integrate the methods easily?

The MTS™ training program covers a range of training that can be useful for all sports at all levels. Heightened body awareness improves non-verbal communication in a team, and helps participants differentiate between general and personal space. It helps players think as a team – which results in better coordination in team sports. MTS™ is part interpretive, therapeutic, team-building and performance enhancing. MTS™ can lend itself as an effective tool in working with injuries and helping athletes take their game to newer and greater heights.

Goals and techniques used:
• Sensory integration through Neuro-Linguistic Programming
• Use of Movement Analysis
• Exploring various themes and efforts to make effective use of the body
• Building spatial awareness
• Understanding body action through exercise, unstructured movement exploration and neuromuscular workouts
• Addressing psychological issues and seeking to find solutions as a cohesive unit

4. Can you provide any real world examples of MTS™ helping athletes?

Benefits that were noted by the players of the Rajasthan Royals Cricket Team during their training camp for Indian Premier League, Season 5:

• Improved self awareness in terms of movement potential.
• Enhanced spatial awareness – distance perception in relation to others and self.
• Understanding the relationship between moving objects and people, at varying speeds.
• Understanding how each individual player’s body moves.
• Improved willingness to take risks and problem solving in the field.
• Overcoming inhibitions to facilitate correct movement technique.
• Articulating emotions and overcoming mental hurdles in training.
• Improving eye contact and hand to eye coordination.
• Improved communication of the mind and body, within each player and between the team.
• Improved confidence, self esteem and team spirit.
• Balancing the right and left sides of the body; maintaining or recovering balance during movement, and injury prevention.
• Overcoming stress and fatigue to maintain concentration and focus on the goal at hand – which may be to hit the ball at a particular angle, save runs through injury-free professional fielding, or emulate a teammate’s wrist action and grip to improve delivery while bowling.

TESTIMONIALS

“Dilshad worked on identifying movement patterns – correcting or balancing them, something which can have a direct application in injury prevention and overall sports performance. The therapy methods are not just specific to cricket and would benefit any athlete – team or individual.

As a trainer, Dilshad is very enthusiastic, patient and committed to her work and gives her absolute best. It was a delight and pleasure working with someone who is so passionate about her craft. We are confident that with her skill and commitment, Dilshad can make MTS™ a mainstream training routine. “